Comments on: Would You Like to be a Child in South Korea?

By: jempres

jempres — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 02:09:26 +0000

Being a mom of a 1st-grader in Korea, i really feel for those Korean students. Most of her classmates, schoolmates would go to diff classes- there’s piano, cello, taekwondo, math and of course english. One student in her class who recently came back from the US has only piano lessons and taekwondo, but those are her own choices. The parents dont let her have that ‘korean way’.
We also don’t want our daughter to be stressed out, so right now she only takes her much-needed Korean class and we’re thinking of sending her to art school, but that’s bcoz she really wants to. ^^

By: Eden

Eden — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:22:17 +0000

Ate I wanna share a story about a close friend. He's not Korean but he was raised with that same kind of stress because his parents are expecting him to run their business. Then, he met this other guy who's happy-go-lucky kind of person. They've been friends but they've also been good competitors academically and non-academically. But my friend told me one time,"Nakakainis nga si ****. Sobrang aral ko, siya mas madalas gumimik sa akin pero mas mataas pa grade." My friend is taking his med course in the Phils and his friend is here in the US running a business. Eden´s last blog post..Tent Cities in LA

By: cher

cher — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 02:05:41 +0000

i have no plans of raising my son "the korean way", i think it's too much stress for them.....just like jehan i used to teach english in a hagwon.....and kids there are really stressed out, i had one student who goes to swimming classes, chinese classes, japanese classes, art classes all on the same day. she barely even had time to sleep....to think she's only 7 years old! i don't agree with korean moms when they say the more classes their children attend, the more intelligent they will be(actually the more classes they attend the more suicidal they can be!). if that's true then all korean kids will end up in the best univeristies but they don't right? children needs to have fun and enjoy being kids because the moment they become adults the reality of life will finally hit them....and that's BIG TIME STRESS! cher´s last blog post..A Criminal's Face Part 2

By: jehan

jehan — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:50:22 +0000

as a special foreign teacher, i’m assigned in reading and checking the diaries of our students. i can say this is their version of our “formal theme” writing (when i was in elementary). children would express their desire to get more playtime or fun time. and their hate for having to go to several hagwons… most even say “they hate their moms”… most claim they get hit by their moms when they relax a little…

almost all students also attend the math and tae kwon do hagwons in the same building. others would rush off after the lesson so they won’t be late for their piano lesson or “hanja” lesson at nearby bldgs.

the students like my card-games (still lesson related) so far. i make it a point they get to enjoy the class. i strongly tell them to at least remember something from the activity if they cant from the lesson…